The history of Yugoslav Gastarbeiter/Gastarbajteri in the “West” is today a very well-researched topic with a long academic bibliography. However, the return migration of these labor migrants is not. In the socialist period, for both economic and ideological reasons, the state’s institutions and its leadership expected their compatriots to eventually return and participate in the development of the country. With “Deutsch Marks in the Head, Shovel in the Hands and Yugoslavia in the Heart. The Gastarbeiter Return to Yugoslavia (1965–1991)”, Sara Bernard offers a unique inquiry into the phenomenon of return migration to Yugoslavia and brings historians deeper into a field traditionally occupied by sociologists and economists.

Delving into a variety of sources, the author has managed to conduct fascinating research on the numerous actors and factors in the processes of return migration, ranging from international organizations, bilateral agreements, and geopolitics via regional and state institutions to individuals, families, and companies. There is also a strong focus on the legal framework and the political implications of return migration in Yugoslavia. The rich source material for the research consists of printed media, statistical data, audio-visual material, literary works, political records, and interviews, among others, gathered from relevant archives in Belgrade and Zagreb. This multilevel analysis gives the book an innovative character and an important place in the academic landscape. Certainly, a larger quantitative scope, such as the inclusion of material from different Yugoslav regions or more individual testimonies from return migrants, could have reinforced the overall argument. These remain potential for future research.

The main goal of the book, as the author points out, is to assess the importance and role of labor migration in the socio-economic transformations and strategies of development in socialist Yugoslavia. Furthermore, the book explores how various actors interacted and influenced each other. To achieve these goals, the author establishes three lines of questioning, which are reflected in the tripartite structure of the book: 1. The legal framework of the labor migration, or “Return migration and strategies of development”; 2. Labor migrants’ investments and social networks in Yugoslavia, or “Gastarbeiter investments and social networks”; and 3. The sense of belonging to the Yugoslav community, or “(Self)Representations of return migration.”

The book provides insight into the fate of the 1960s reforms, the self-management turn of the 1970s, and the recession years of the 1980s, through the lenses of return migration and reintegration. It follows all of these processes from above and below, and sheds light on the different meanings and interpretations of the concept of development. In the first part, Bernard maintains that the debates about and implementation of migration policies in Yugoslavia were strongly influenced by the ambivalence in the Yugoslav development planning and reforms. This ambivalence hindered the development of a functional domestic economic and labor market, and thus hindered the successful return and reintegration of the emigrants as well. The second part focuses on Gastarbeiter investment patterns and their social (especially family) networks in Yugoslavia. Bernard argues that the Gastarbeiter social networks that were created abroad, based on class consciousness and local solidarity, in turn influenced their investment choices back in Yugoslavia. She further shows that peasant migrants often opted for return migration because, despite certain financial gains, they did not (expect to) find social recognition and mobility abroad. The third part shows the divergence between the image of the Yugoslavs abroad promoted by the state and that found in cultural production (literature, music, and cinema), especially in terms of the influence of the migration experience on the identity of the migrants.

Starting from the basic and legitimate assumption that the return migration of the Yugoslav workers was relevant for economic, political, and ideological reasons, Bernard puts forward a series of important suggestions, the most crucial of which relate to the idea that the Yugoslav programs for the reintegration of migrant workers made no progress. That is, despite all institutional efforts, there was no unified vision of the return migration process. The author analyzes the causes of the problem and points to several internal obstacles, such as variations in regional adaptations and the unequal status given to Gastarbeiter. She claims not only that the Yugoslav republics and regions were differently affected by the changing migration policies and initiatives, but that, more importantly, those variations hindered federal cooperation and even threatened the unity of socialist Yugoslavia. Thus, the book tries to assess the connections between the return of the Gastarbeiter and the rise of social tensions and ethno-nationalism in the late 1980s, with the delegitimization of the Yugoslav system. According to Bernard, the goal to return to the country of origin ultimately transformed, for many labor migrants, from a class project into a national project. Furthermore, the author shows the growing distrust that labor migrants felt toward Yugoslav institutions, the implications of which continued well into the post-Yugoslav period. In fact, one of the values of the book is that despite focusing on the 1960s–1980s, it reveals the many legacies of the “myth of return” of Yugoslav labor migrants that still exist today, thus opening new research avenues.

The entanglements of national, international, and transnational perspectives presented in the book provide not only an excellent historical contextualization but also show that migration, return migration, and reintegration, whether synchronically or diachronically, should not be studied in isolation. The transnational and geopolitical aspects of Yugoslav labor migration and return migration show that many of the lessons from the Yugoslav case are valuable for a better understanding of these processes on the European and global levels.

Sara Bernard’s “Deutsch Marks in the Head, Shovel in the Hands and Yugoslavia in the Heart. The Gastarbeiter Return to Yugoslavia (1965–1991)” is an original, multifaceted, and well-founded study. The analysis and its contextualization successfully reveal the nature, complexity, and implications of return migration and reintegration. At the same time, the book also represents a step forward in our knowledge of the history of socialist Yugoslavia. It is certainly a recommended and useful volume for everyone engaging with the topic.